Page 82 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New Orleans

80  NE W ORLEANS AREA B Y AREA

i Washington
Square
Frenchman between Royal and
Dauphine. Map 5 E1. Open 9am–6pm
daily. @ 5, 55. 7
Washington Square, one of the
earliest parks to be laid out in
New Orleans, was created in
1808. It lies at the center of
the Faubourg Marigny, today
it is the most “bohemian” part
of New Orleans and home to
most of the city’s gay community.
The park is a good place to
throw a frisbee and for ball
games, or just to relax on the
green areas it offers. There are
also open-air concerts and
plays here in summer and
Tree-shaded passage in Washington Square caroling in December.
u Lafitte’s and with their band they
Blacksmith Shop fought bravely in the ensuing
battle (see p19). Regardless of
941 Bourbon St. Map 5 D1.
Tel 593-9761. @ 55, 89. whether this shop was indeed
Open 10am–4am daily. 7 occupied by the Lafitte brothers,
∑ lafittesblacksmithshop.com the building certainly existed
to witness Jean Lafitte brazenly Water lily at the American
This is the oldest bar in New walking the streets when Aquatic Gardens
Orleans. It is an example of the posters calling for his capture o American
brick between posts (see p36) were plastered all over town.
French-style building, and Just up Bourbon Street from Aquatic Gardens
was constructed sometime Lafitte’s stands another bar, 621 Elysian Fields. Map 5 E1.
before 1772, although the called Lafitte’s in Exile. It is Tel 944-0410. @ 5, 55. Open 9am–
precise date is unknown. Inside, so called because, until the early 4pm daily. Closed major holidays. =
several small fireplaces warm 1950s, gays frequented the old ∑ americanaquaticgardens.com
the place on cool evenings, Lafitte’s; when the bar changed
and there is also a small patio hands, its new owner refused to This delightful “store,” which
containing a sculpture of renew the lease, and in 1953 its occupies half a city block,
Adam and Eve embracing on a gay patrons were driven into is the largest – and widely
bed of ivy. The sculpture was exile. They established their new considered the best – aquatic
created by an artist as payment quarters just up the street at plant nursery and garden
for his bar bill. Lafitte’s in Exile, making it the supply store in the United
Despite its name, there is no oldest gay bar in the US. States. It is worth visiting for its
proof that the pirate brothers,
Jean and Pierre Lafitte, operated
a smithy here as a front for their
smuggling activities. Very little
documentation of their lives
exists, so that many myths have
been woven around these
two legendary figures. They
operated as smugglers and
were prominent slave
traffickers, selling all manner
of contraband, including
seized slave ships, when the
importation of slaves into the
United States was forbidden
in 1808. They earned local
gratitude by warning the
Americans of the planned
British attack on New Orleans, The historic Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop

080-081_EW_New_Orl.indd 80 05/08/16 3:49 pm
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.7)
Date 1st October 2013
Size 125mm x 217mm